Valve control head



Sept. 1, 1964 J. H. KRONHEIM VALVE CONTROL HEAD Filed Sept. 12, 1961 INVENTO BY John H. Kronheim ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,146,916 VALVE CONTROL HEAD John H. Kronheim, East Orange, N.J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Walter Kidde & Company, Inc., Bellevilie, N.J., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 12, 1961, Ser. No. 137,694 Claims. (Cl. 222-182) The present invention relates to fluid handling, and, more particularly, to a control head for a valve on a container adapted to confine fluid under pressure in the container and direct the fluid to its point of use, and for releasing the used fluid to atmosphere when it has served its purpose.

The present invention aims to provide such a control head which is particularly adapted for use on standard aerosol containers equipped with a spring seated valve for releasing the aerosol by pressing on a valve control member, whereby the fluid under pressure in the container can be utilized for inflating various devices, such as blood pressure cuffs and other devices which are ordinarily inflated by a manually operable bulb or other types of hand operated pumps.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide such a valve control head which is simple and economical in construction and can be operated with a minimum of effort.

Another object is to provide such a valve control head which is readily attached to and detached from a conventional aerosol can.

Another object is to provide such a valve control head which prevents the inflatable device from being subjected to excessive pressure.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a valve control head in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line 22 on FIG. 1 illustrating the valve control head in section and illustrating in elevation a portion of a valved container for confining fluid medium under pressure and having the control head attached thereto.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 33 on FIG. 2 illustrating the container valve in detail.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown a container having a valve 11, and a valve control head 12 for the valve of the container.

The container 10 is illustrated as a conventional aerosol can comprising a body having a bottom wall 14 and a side wall 15 provided with a neck 16 at its open upper end; and a closure 17 having a cover portion 18 (FIG. 3) for closing the upper end of the container to which the valve 11 is secured at its center and having a skirt 19 secured over the neck 16 to provide an annular recess 20 beneath the lower edge of the skirt.

The valve 11 (FIG. 3) is conventional in construction and comprises a seat provided by an annular gasket 21 seated in an apertured inverted cup-shaped portion 22 of the cover portion 18 of the closure 17, a valve member 24, a valve member housing 25 formed with an opening 26 at its lower end which communicates with the interior of the container 10, and a spring 27 in the hous- "ice ing 25 for biasing the valve member -24 on its seat. The valve member 24 includes a solid lower stem portion 28 disposed in the housing 25, a tubular upper portion 29 extending outwardly of the container and serving as a valve operating element for co-operation with the control head, and an intermediate flange portion 30 having an upper surface for engaging the gasket 21 and a lower surface engaged by the upper end of the spring 27. The tubular portion 29 has an aperture 31 in the side wall thereof just above the flange portion 30 which is sealed off by the gasket when the flange portion 30 is seated and is capable of establishing fluid flow eommuunication between the interior of the container and the open upper end of the tubular portion 29 when the flange portion is unseated.

The valve control head 12 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 generally comprises a body 32, a control element 34 on the body, a lever 35 for effecting movement of the control element, and a return spring 36 for the lever.

The body 32 comprises a cover portion 37 formed with a central vertical bore 38 above and in alignment with the valve 11 which bore serves as guideway means for the control element 34, a radially extending vertical slot 39 merging with the bore 38 and a diametrically extending slot defined by a pair of spaced lugs 40 at opposite sides of the bore 38 for mounting and guiding the lever 35; a depending skirt 41 for receiving the upper end of the side wall 15 of the container and having an annular recess 42 at the inner wall thereof; and an normally constricted yieldable annular element 44 in the recess 42, such as a spring which is adapted to extend into the recess 20 and serve as means for effecting removable securement of the body 32 to the container 10.

The control element 34 is slidably fitted into the bore 38 of the body; and has a longitudinal bore 45 extending therethrough provided at its lower end with an inlet facing and in registry with the upper end of the hollow valve operating element 29 and an outlet at its upper end in communication with the atmosphere, and has a transverse bore 46 in communication with the longitudinal bore 45 between the ends thereof provided with an outlet 47. The upper end of the control element has a valve seat 48 surrounding the outlet of the bore 45. The lower end of the control element has an enlarged stepped bore providing a portion 49 for receiving the upper end of the valve operating element 29, a portion 50 for receiving an annular gasket 51 adapted to effect a seal about the valve operating element 29 below its upper or free end, and a portion 52 for securing a washer 54 adapted to retain the gasket 51 within the portion 50.

The outlet 47 of the transverse bore 46 has one end of a tube 55 secured therein which rides in the slot 39 as the control element 34 moves up and down, and a flexible tube 56 is attached to the other end of the tube 55 for conducting fluid under pressure to the point of use (not shown).

In order to prevent a device which is to be inflated by the fluid of the container from being subjected to excessive pressures, a relief valve is provided which includes a hole 57 in the side wall of the tube 55, and a flexible sleeve 58 on the tube which overlies the hole 57 to normally close the same and is adapted to yield in response to excessive pressure within the tube 55 to at least partially open the hole 57 and thereby relieve the excessive pressure. Preferably, the tube 55 has a pair of radially outwardly extending annular ribs 59 thereon for engaging the ends of the sleeve 58 to maintain the sleeve in position about the hole 57.

The lever 35 is generally L-shaped and includes an upper arm 60 which has its free end pivotally mounted between the lugs 40 and extends across the control element 34, and a depending arm 61 at the side of the body 32 which is adapted for manual engagement to operate the lever. Preferably, the lever arm 6% has a pad 62 on the underside thereof for engaging the valve seat 48 of the control element and closing the outlet of the bore 45 at its upper end when the lever is depressed to move the control element downwardly. The lower end of the spring 36 is seated in a well 64 formed in the cover portion 37 of the body 32, and the upper end of the spring 36 is biased against the underside of the lever arm 66 to move the pad 62 out of engagement with the valve seat 48' when the lever is released.

In operation, with the elements in position as shown in FIG. 1 and the tube 56 connected to an inflatable device, fluid under pressure is released from the container 10 by pushing the lever arm 61 towards the control head body, whereby the lever arm 60 moves downwardly, thepad 62 engages the seat 48 to close the upper end of the bore 45 and the control element 34 is moved downwardly to cause the valve member 24 to unseat. Fluid under pressure now flows from the container, through the housing opening 26, through the aperture 31, through the tube 29, through the bores 45 and 46, and through the tubes 55 and 56 for delivery to the point of use.

When the device has been sufliciently inflated, the lever 35 is released sufliciently to allow the spring 2'7 to seat the valve member 24 and close the valve 11 but with the pad 62 in engagement with the seat 48 to maintain the upper end of the bore 45 closed, whereby the device remains inflated.

When the inflated device has served its purpose, it is allowed to deflate by fully releasing the lever 35, whereby the spring 36 moves the lever arm 60 upwardly so that the pad 62 disengages the valve seat 43 and opens the upper end of the bore 45. The fluid under pressure now flows from the device through the tubes 56 and 55, through the bore 46 and the upper portion of the bore 45, and to atmosphere by way of the outlet at the upper end of the bore 45.

In assembling the valve control head and the container, the element 44 locks the control head on the container, and the gasket 51 effects frictional securement of the valve member tube 29 to the control element 34 so that the control element 34 is moved upwardly under the influence of the valve spring 27 when the lever 35 is released. The gasket 51 also eifects a seal about the tube 29 so that fluid under pressure which flows through the tube is directed into the inlet of the control element bore 45 without loss of any fluid.

When the fluid under pressure in the container 10 has been expended, the container is detached from the control head 12 and a full container is replaced.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel and useful control head for a valved container which controls the release of fluid from the container in a reliable and eflective manner.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A valve control head comprising a body having .means for effecting removable securement of said body to a container for confining fluid under pressure, the container being provided with a valve operating element formed with an upwardly facing discharge outlet, said body having guideway means therein; a control element slidably mounted in said guideway means and structurally independent of the valve operating element, said control element having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough from end to end and being provided with an inlet at its lower end for facing the valve operating element and being provided with an outlet at its upper end in communication with the atmosphere and having a transverse bore in communication with said longitudinal bore between the ends thereof provided with an outlet; sealing means at the lower end of said longitudinal bore :for releasably connecting the same in fluid flow comrnunication with the discharge outlet of the valve operating element; a tube secured to said control element for movement therewith having one end in fluid flow communication with the outlet of said transverse bore and its other end being adapted .for connection to a point of use; a manually operable lever extending across said control element and pivotally mounted on said body, said lever having means for engaging said control element and closing the outlet of said longitudinal bore at its upper end and for effecting movement of said control element to actuate said valve operating element; and spring means mounted between said body and said lever for moving said last mentioned means out of engagement with said control element to open the outlet of said longitudinal bore when said lever is released.

2. A valve control head according to claim 1, wherein said tube has aperture means adapted for communication to the atmosphere, and yieldable means overlie said aperture means normally adapted to close said aperture means and adapted to yield in response to an excessive positive pressure with said tube to unclose said aperture means.

3. A valve control head according to claim 2, wherein said aperture means is a hole in the side wall of said tube, and said yieldable means is a flexible sleeve surrounding said tube.

4. A valve control head according to claim 3, wherein said tube has radially outwardly extending means thereon References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 347,018 Ware Aug. 10, 1886 2,793,653 Payne May 28, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 456,893 Italy Apr. 26, 1950 

1. A VALVE CONTROL HEAD COMPRISING A BODY HAVING MEANS FOR EFFECTING REMOVABLE SECUREMENT OF SAID BODY TO A CONTAINER FOR CONFINING FLUID UNDER PRESSURE, THE CONTAINER BEING PROVIDED WITH A VALVE OPERATING ELEMENT FORMED WITH AN UPWARDLY FACING DISCHARGE OUTLET, SAID BODY HAVING GUIDEWAY MEANS THEREIN; A CONTROL ELEMENT SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN SAID GUIDEWAY MEANS AND STRUCTURALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE VALVE OPERATING ELEMENT, SAID CONTROL ELEMENT HAVING A LONGITUDINAL BORE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH FROM END TO END AND BEING PROVIDED WITH AN INLET AT ITS LOWER END FOR FACING THE VALVE OPERATING ELEMENT AND BEING PROVIDED WITH AN OUTLET AT ITS UPPER END IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE ATMOSPHERE AND HAVING A TRANSVERSE BORE IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID LONGITUDINAL BORE BETWEEN THE ENDS THEREOF PROVIDED WITH AN OUTLET; SEALING MEANS AT THE LOWER END OF SAID LONGITUDINAL BORE FOR RELEASABLY CONNECTING THE SAME IN FLUID FLOW COMMUNICATION WITH THE DISCHARGE OUTLET OF THE VALVE OPERATING ELEMENT; A TUBE SECURED TO SAID CONTROL ELEMENT FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH HAVING ONE END IN FLUID FLOW COMMUNICATION WITH THE OUTLET OF SAID TRANSVERSE BORE AND ITS OTHER END BEING ADAPTED FOR CONNECTION TO A POINT OF USE; A MANUALLY OPERABLE LEVER EXTENDING ACROSS SAID CONTROL ELEMENT AND PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID BODY, SAID LEVER HAVING MEANS FOR ENGAGING SAID CONTROL ELEMENT AND CLOSING THE OUTLET OF SAID LONGITUDINAL BORE AT ITS UPPER END AND FOR EFFECTING MOVEMENT OF SAID CONTROL ELEMENT TO ACTUATE SAID VALVE OPERATING ELEMENT; AND SPRING MEANS MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID BODY AND SAID LEVER FOR MOVING SAID LAST MENTIONED MEANS OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CONTROL ELEMENT TO OPEN THE OUTLET OF SAID LONGITUDINAL BORE WHEN SAID LEVER IS RELEASED. 